QUICK FACTS

Model: baggage car
Built: June 1950
Builder: American Car & Foundry, Berwick, PA
Past Railroad Owners: Erie, Erie Lackawanna, Conrail
Current Owner: TOYX, Inc.
Current Location: Horseheads, NY

Express baggage car No. 207 was built in June 1950 by American Car & Foundry of Berwick, Pennsylvania. It was built for the Erie Railroad for use across the system on long-distance passenger trains, where it carried baggage, mail, and express packages, usually at the front of the train. The No. 207 served on famous trains like the Erie Limited and operated almost daily through Port Jervis as it rolled in and out of the New York metropolitan area. The car contained a small desk, a bathroom, and a water cooler for the baggage attendants.

When the Erie merged with its chief competitor, the Lackawanna Railroad, on October 17, 1960, this car became Erie Lackawanna No. 207. It continued in baggage-express service until the last Erie Lackawanna passenger train, the Lake Cities, was discontinued on January 6, 1970. The car was eventually requisitioned for maintenance-of-way service and was renumbered to Erie Lackawanna No. 489008.

It retained this number through the April 1, 1976 merger that consolidated the Erie Lackawanna with five other bankrupt railroads in the northeast to create Conrail. In fact, the car was never repainted or even patched with Conrail markings. It was retired and sidelined in Elmira, New York, and following an inspection by a Conrail car inspector in May 1984, it was offered for sale “as is, where is.”

Art Sullivan purchased the car for $200.00 on July 10, 1987, including delivery by Conrail from Elmira to a disused siding near Art’s shop in nearby Horseheads, New York. In the intervening 38 years, the siding has been severed from the national rail system, and the plain bearing wheelsets (commonly called “friction bearings”) have been outlawed in interchange service. However, Art continued to maintain the car, initially repainting it into the Erie Lackawanna’s maroon and gray scheme and later repainting it again into the Erie’s classic two-tone green scheme in 2013.

In 2025, Art offered to donate the car to TOYX to be used on its annual Operation Toy Train Toys for Tots collection trains. The donation was accepted on October 14, 2025.

Returning this classic piece of Erie passenger history to service will be an expensive proposition, as it will need to be trucked from of its current location in Horseheads back to live rail, will need all of its plain bearing wheelsets replaced with roller bearing wheelsets, and will need its UC-1-18 brake system replaced with a more modern system (likely ABDX). It will also need some cosmetic repairs to the exterior sheet metal, and it will need a new Erie paint job when repairs are complete. TOYX is looking to fundraise $45,000 to fund this work and put this amazing piece of history to work once again collecting toys for less-fortunate children. Click here to donate!